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title of the game
Inspiration
What You Sow draws from minimalist psychological games like Distraint: small scope, heavy impact. I wanted a story that starts claustrophobic—TV static, a seed that ignores your will—and turns toward acceptance without pretending consequences vanish.
What it does
A short, narrative-driven web game (←/→ or A/D to move, E to interact, Space to advance) across five acts: collect a key, a screen shard, and a photo; meet a ragpicker who crafts a silver locket; confront the “dark self”; then choose to embrace it.
How we built it
Built with HTML5, CSS3, and vanilla JavaScript. Most of the implementation code was generated by AI from my design specs; I integrated the outputs, assembled scenes, edited assets, fixed breakages, and validated the flow across browsers. Narrative, pacing, and interaction design are mine—even though I did not hand-write most of the code.
Challenges we ran into
Keeping a tight demo without scope creep; avoiding timing/race bugs in browsers (solved by synchronous transitions); balancing tone so it’s dark but not bleak; handling audio autoplay policies with user-gesture gating.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
A stable browser demo with no installs; a readable micro-engine others can extend; diegetic prompts that keep players in-world; and a five-act arc that lands on a memorable, hopeful close.
What we learned
How to pace web narratives so agency still feels real on a fixed arc; why simpler, synchronous flow beats timer chains; and how to use AI responsibly as draft support, not as an author.
What's next for What You Sow
More environmental notes and optional beats, richer confrontation lines, mobile-friendly controls, small visual/audio polish passes, and a public repo/itch.io page so others can try and contribute.
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